Hug
by Cian'Perrel
Summary: Cyclops is back from the dead, and Jubilee has just found out. Find out what her reaction to this news will be.


Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men or any other Marvel characters. The only thing that is mine is the plot.

A/N: A while back I read a couple of stories by Dex that I found interesting (Orphans and Eulogy), and they inspired me to write this story. I had never thought much about the relationships between some characters before, and Dex really made me think about it, with his take on the relationship between Cyclops and Jubilee. This is my version of the continuation of that story. While not necessary, I would suggest you go read Dex's stories, they are well written, and a real pleasure to read. Feel free to review; this is my first attempt at writing Jubilee, and I hope I did her justice.

This story takes place shortly after Cyclops' return from being possessed by Apocalypse (Uncanny X-Men #391).

**Hug**

Jubilee can't believe her ears; Cyclops is back from the dead. She had called Wolverine to catch up, and just learned the news. She asks him three times if he's serious before she finally believes him.

She immediately takes all her saving, borrows some money from Angelo, and buys a plane ticket back to Salem Center. She doesn't even bother packing anything, and just goes with the clothes on her back.

As she sits on the plane, she has time to think about the reality of the situation. Cyclops is back from the dead, just like so many X-Men before him; but this one feels special.

Sure, she has never been close to Cyclops; she can probably count the times that the two of them have been alone together on one hand. But he has always been an inspiration to her; even if she has never told him.

He stands for everything that is good and right about the 'dream'; heck, he lives it, day in and day out. He never asks anyone to do something that he wouldn't be willing to do himself, and he never pushes anyone harder then they need to be pushed to get the job done.

When she had heard he was dead, she had just assumed that the X-Men were finished; it seemed impossible that the team could exist without him. And in the days after his funeral, it had almost happened. But he had inspired too many people, and they weren't going to let the 'dream' that he had given his life for die.

And now he's back; she knew that he was too stubborn to let Apocalypse win. She didn't know the details, but she was certain that he had fought Apocalypse all the way, and won.

She thinks back to that conversation she had with him before leaving for the Massachusetts Academy to join Generation-X, what seems like a lifetime ago. It was the first time that she had seen him as Scott Summers, the man, and not just Cyclops, the X-Man. He had shared with her and helped her sort out some problems she had been having.

She never told anyone, but that day, she had felt a special bond with him. They may have two completely different personalities, but they were more similar then anyone knew. Both of them had been orphans and runaways. Both of them had done some pretty bad things to survive; okay, she hadn't done anything close to as bad as some of the stuff he had done, but still. Both of them had been hurt by people they had trusted; and both of them had learned not to trust anyone too easily.

She glances down at the watch that he gave her that day; and that she has worn every day since his funeral. She runs a finger over its face and thinks back to what he had told her about it, and what it represented to him; and what he hoped it would represent to her. She cherishes the watch more then anything else she owns; although, she'll never admit it to anyone.

She reaches into her jacket pocket to make sure that the letter that she grabbed before leaving is still there. It is a hand written letter that Cyclops had written for her, in the event of his death; he had written one for everyone. And it is a close second to the watch, of her most cherished possessions. She remembers that it had taken her almost two hours to read it the first time, because she had cried so much; and it is only six pages long. She is sure that Beast still hasn't finished the novel that Cyclops must have left him.

When the plane lands, she disembarks and hails a cab. Being spring, and a sunny afternoon, she gets to enjoy the beautiful scenery during the drive.

As the cab pulls up to the mansion, she sees Wolverine waiting on the porch. He pays the cabbie, and accepts a hug from her.

"Been awhile, squirt." He says.

"Hey, I'm not the one with a private jet at my disposal. What's your excuse for not coming to visit me more often?" She shoots back.

"You know, saving the world, getting beat up; same ol', same ol'."

"I missed you." She says as she breaks the hug.

"Yeah, me too." He says as he turns and leads her inside. "Slims down in his office with Jeannie; I told him you were coming to visit."

Without another word, she takes off running down the halls, until she's standing outside his office. She reaches out a hand to knock, but the door opens on its own. "Come on in Jubilee." She hears Jean's familiar voice call out.

"Hi Jean." She says as she steps in and sees her standing next to the bookcase, holding a file.

"Hello Jubilee; it's nice to see you again." Jean says.

Jubilee is too distracted to reply, as she finally sees Cyclops standing in front of his desk looking at her. She thought she knew what she would do and say when she saw him; but now that she's actually standing five feet from him, she forgets it all. So she follows her gut, and rushes forward to hug him. "Bossman!" She mumbles into his chest, as she squeezes him with all her might. She doesn't even care that Jean is there, or that the door is still open and people might see, as she lets the tears come. "It's really you."

Slowly, he puts his arms around her, and hugs her back. "Yes, Jubilee; it's really me."

She loosens the hug, but doesn't let go, looks up at him, and says angrily, "Don't ever do that again, okay. If you ever die again, I'll kill you."

She's surprised when she actually hears him laugh. "I'll try to remember that."

"I'm serious, Cyke. You're supposed to grow old and teach my grandkids how to be X-Men."

"Grandkids? I thought I was only gone for a few months."

"You know what I mean." She says, as she starts squeezing him as hard as she can again. "Promise me you won't ever do that again."

"Ah, Jubilee, I can't..."

"Promise!" She yells as the tears start to flow again.

"Sure thing, Jubilee; I promise." He says, as he holds her tight.

Scott looks over at Jean, who says, "Ah, I should go and show this file to Logan, Scott." before leaving and closing the door behind her.

Jubilee stops crying after a few minutes, and releases him after a couple more. "I, ah, brought this for you." She says, as she reaches into her jacket pocket and removes the letter, before handing it to him.

He takes the letter, looks at it and says, "Jubilee, I wrote this for you; it's yours."

"No, you wrote it for me in the event of your death; but you're alive, so it's not right for me to have it yet."

He looks down at the letter before smiling and saying, "Alright, I'll hold on to it."

She looks around, suddenly feeling awkward, trying to think of something to say. "I see you still have the watch." He says, as he points to her wrist.

"Hunh? Yeah, I still got it." She replies.

They stand there in silence for a few minutes before Cyclops steps forward and engulfs her in another hug. She hugs him back, and let's the tears flow again. Neither of them says a word; they've never been good at expressing their feeling anyways.

For the first time that she can remember, Jubilee, the little, lonely, orphan girl, feels safe. Cyclops is probably the only person that really understands her on a fundamental level, and he knows that sometimes, people like them, just need someone to hold them and make them realize that they're not alone; so she tries to send the same message back to him through the hug.

Fifteen minutes later, Jean and Wolverine approach Cyclops office. As Wolverine reaches out to open the door, Jean places a hand on his arm and says, "No, Logan. Wait."

"Whadda ya mean, wait?" We gotta talk to Cyke about this." He says, indicating the file in Jean's hand.

She looks at the door and smiles, "Yes we do; but not right now." She turns and starts walking away.

Wolverine takes a quick sniff, before turning and following her. "What're the two of them talkin' about, in there?" He asks.

"They're not talking at all. They're just standing there, hugging each other." She replies.

"Slim's huggin' the squirt?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Because it's something that they both need and that they can only give each other."

"You're losin' me, Red."

"Scott and Jubilee have much more in common with each other then with any of us, and they know how to comfort each other better then we do; and that's what they're doing for each other right now." She says as she looks back and smiles. "With something as simple as a hug."

**THE END**


End file.
